As the Co-Founder of CCI, Garry Collett is a principal investor in almost all of CCI’s real estate ventures. Alongside Lou Mellman, he spearheads the company’s relationships with strategic partners and drives efforts for significant new investments.
Garry has been a prominent figure in the real estate industry for over 50 years, both in California and on a national and international scale. He began his career in real estate as a commercial real estate broker in Canada. After being named one of the top ten agents in Winnipeg, he purchased the brokerage firm for which he worked, growing it to one of the top 10 firms in the city in just a few short years. In 1976, he sold his brokerage firm and began investing as a principal in real estate. After immigrating to the United States in 1979, he continued to pursue real estate investments in lieu of brokerage, growing his real estate portfolio one building at a time. He focused his investment strategy on multi-family buildings, beginning with the acquisition of apartment buildings, condominium conversions, and land development. In 2000, Garry purchased his first HUD building, which lead to his entrance to the affordable housing arena.
Over the last twenty years, Garry’s primary focus has been the acquisition, ownership, and management of senior affordable housing. With a nationwide reach and having navigated the intricacies of government subsidized housing, he has garnered a reputation of having a deep understanding of the complexities of affordable housing, while still maintaining his entrepreneurial spirit of real estate investment fundamentals.
In addition to a concentration in affordable housing, Garry has spent much of his career in local, ground up development, including design, entitlements, and construction. Working on asset classes as diverse as mini-storage, townhomes, multi-family, and mixed use, Garry takes pride in building community supported developments that impact the surrounding areas for the better.
Garry currently owns a portfolio of approximately 7,500+ apartment units located in over 35+ states.